The present invention is directed to the field of dry bulk shipping and is more specifically directed to an apparatus and method of barge shipping food, grain or other products requiring avoidance of contamination. Another aspect of the invention resides in the provision of plural barge-mounted containers for food grade products in conjunction with pneumatic loading and discharge means that is selectively operable for loading and unloading selected individual containers or all of the containers as required.
The currently available bulk shipping containers are designed and dimensioned so as to be stacked horizontally in or on a barge or ocean going vessel. Such conventional containers are commonly provided with a length of 20 ft. or 40 ft. so as to comply with the dimension requirements for container carrying ocean going vessels. Such containers are designed to be moved from one mode of transportation to another such as from a rail car or truck to an ocean going container ship or vice versa. The size of such conventional containers is such that they are not readily usable for barge transport. Hopper cars are frequently used for the transport of food grade bulk products by rail and trucks are also available for that purpose. However, it is not possible to use barges for transport of food grade bulk products due to the incompatibility of presently known containers with the dimensional requirements of barges. Consequently, the public is deprived of the substantial savings that are possible from the use of barge transportation of food grade bulk products. Thus, a significant aspect of the present invention is the provision of containers which can be used on barges in an efficient and economical manner and in compliance with the U.S. Food and Drug regulations including Regulation 117-1520.
Additionally, many products such as powdered alumina, talc and the like powders cannot be transported by barge, rail or truck due to the creation of excessive dust when such products are loaded and unloaded by the common means of conveying or dumping. Moreover, food grade materials as well as many other materials cannot be moved by barge due to the likelihood of contamination from loading, unloading or storage in the cargo hold of a barge. Thus, there is a wide range of products that have not previously been moved by barge due to the likelihood of contamination. While there are containers on the market which can protect food grade and other sensitive materials, such containers do not readily fit in a conventional cargo hold of a barge which is normally approximately 28 ft. wide by 185 ft. to 188 ft. long. The foregoing practice results in it being impossible to ship food grade and other sensitive products domestically by the cleanest, safest and most efficient way.
None of the known prior art addresses the problems to which the subject invention is directed. More specifically, By U.S. Pat. No. 4,072,120 discloses a complicated arrangement of multiple containers removably mounted on various types of seagoing powered vessels. Klundt et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,952 discloses a barge provided with means for carrying stacked containers. The barge is configured to carry maximum load of containers and still fit within a standard lock. The height of the barge and cargo is said to be 45 feet. Nemec et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,919,959 discloses a system of barges that are intended to be carried on a mother ship and later moved to their destinations as smaller units consisting of a few containers. Nemec et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,830,177 is similar to Nemec et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,919,959 in disclosing stacked containers on a vessel. Cushing et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,823,681 discloses a ship designed to carry a plurality of barges which are preloaded with containers. Fletcher U.S. Pat. No. 3,550,550 discloses an ocean-going barge provided with a plurality of vertically stacked removable containers. Lewis et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,820,664 discloses a barge and cargo handling system for moving factory constructed housing units by barge and ship from the point of manufacture. Oshima U.S. Pat. No. 3,467,044 discloses a barge employing internal guide-frame members for stacking containers and including means for positioning non-containerized freight beneath the stacked containers. Toth et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,514 discloses an elongated non-cylindrical horizontally extending bulk container made of stainless steel, aluminum or other materials of sufficient strength and fixedly and permanently attached to a vessel. Kee U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,974 discloses an elongated aluminum container extending horizontally in a frame welded to a large vessel.
Therefore, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a new and improved apparatus for shipping food grade and other pollution sensitive or causative materials in an efficient, safe and cost-effective manner.
Yet another object of the present invention is provision of new and improved apparatus for shipping food grade and other sensitive materials by barge in a cost-effective, safe and reliable manner.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved dry bulk product transport container that is useful in transfer of powdered materials from barges to alternative modes of transportation.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of a dry bulk product transport container that is economical to construct and use and uses generally available conventional methods for loading and unloading the product including pressurized pneumatic, negative pneumatic and gravity actuated procedures.
Achievement of the foregoing objects is enabled by the preferred embodiment of the invention which consists of a container assembly which includes a dry bulk product sealable container constructed of medium or high density polyethylene that complies with U.S. Food and Drug Administration Regulation 117.1520 and which is of vertically extending cylindrical configuration having a lower extent defined by a conical floor terminating at its apex with a discharge valve. The cylindrical container is mounted in a vertically extending steel frame comprising four vertical frame components each defining a corner of the assembly and which are interconnected by horizontal frame components all of equal length to create a rigid and reliable support for the cylindrical container which is positioned within the confines of the steel framework. The upper end of the container includes a removable man-hole cover, a five-inch fill line or pipe and a five-inch vent.
Each container assembly is dimensioned so that the containers can be provided in three longitudinal rows each extending longitudinally of a barge with each row substantially filling the length direction and dimension of the barge which is normally in the range of 185 ft. to 188 ft. Similarly, the containers are also arranged in transverse rows consisting of a container from each of three longitudinal rows extending across the width of the barge and substantially filling the 28 ft. width of the barge so that the container assemblies efficiently fill the cargo volume space of the barge while maintaining their contents in a pure condition from external pollution. However, the containers can be easily either filled or emptied using conventional dockside equipment for discharge into truck or rail transportation means for further transport or alternatively for discharge directly into raw material receiving means of a manufacturing plant or the like.